Sharing a little Christmas joy!

Can you believe that I JUST finished decorating this little dinky tree of ours???

Yes, I have.

(This is a little 4 ft. fake tree I found at w-mart for 25.00

that was adorned with red berries and pinecones and was pre-lit too!!!)

On December 21st I finally finished the little guy and just love it.

It's my nature-inspired tree and it's so perfect for us!!

I totally think it would have looked wonderful for me to have wrapped

our gifts in kraft paper and used jute twine to tie them up but I had purchased

this gorgeous snowflake paper at Hob Lob last year after Christmas
and,

well,
I just had to use it!!!

The little tree has been topped with a few cuttings
from the plumes of ornamental grasses,

the garland is simple raffia strips that have been wrapped around the tree.

I've added feathers I've collected, store bought bird's nests and

even some botanicals have been added too.

Burr oak acorns have been placed in the nests as well as

some seed pod stems that I had ~
It's simply perfect for our little farmhouse!!!

There are many things in our life that STEAL our joy....

and when that happens it affects so many aspects of our life.

This year will soon be coming to an end
and my goal for the new year is to
STOP, STOP, STOP

letting the everyday trials of this life

steal. my. joy.

It has affected my creativity, my blogging and of course my attitude.

But the funny thing??

It's all up to ME!!

It's all up to how much I will let it all overtake me
and my desire to create.

I just wanted to share a few private thoughts ~

All I ever really want to do is make something beautiful

so I can share it with you!!!!

Happy Monday precious friends ~

hugs and love,

Dawn

joy

joi/

noun

1.a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.

A thankful heart ~

As I thank the Lord each night in my prayers,

I am reminded of all the precious blessings He has given our family.

No, things are not always perfect around here,

and I don't share all that here....

but when you get down to the nitty gritty,

no matter how tough things get,

no matter how many trials and tribulations we have been through,

our family is truly blessed!!!

I created the image below just for you...

a quote straight from a Veggie Tales video

out little Noah (now almost 16 yrs old) used to watch!

I have to show you these beautiful elf shoes that

Beth of Gathering Dust created

using my little Elf/Fairy Shoe Ornament Tutorial....

she has a beautiful way of putting them together, don't you think?

I think they are just GORGEOUS!

And what have I been up to?

We had a precious house guest this past weekend...

Clara came to spend the night Saturday and helped me decorate our Christmas tree

and put out the Christmas village....we had the BEST time together!!!

I normally don't put the tree up before Thanksgiving but my parents

are coming into town this week and

next weekend will be so busy visiting with them ~ 

Here's the fruit of our labor!!!

Doesn't everyone have a Christmas village surrounding their TV???

It was the only available space I had and guess what?

Our precious granddaughter Clara didn't mind at all!!!!

She just loved helping me set it up and playing with it ~

These truly are the things that memories are made of.

I'm working on an order for ten rose petal sachets that has made the studio

smell like a beautiful garden!!!

And we're also working on TONS of soap orders as well ~

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

I hope you are doing so good and
thank you so much for stopping by to see what I'm up to ~

Happy Monday precious friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

My little forest...

I finished my sweet Christmas trees!!

Each one is just a tad larger than the last ~

The sugar dishes are quite tarnished but I love them that way.

By adding a few old pearls, fragments of vintage jewelry,

beautiful vintage buttons and of course...seam binding,

they're now ready to celebrate Christmas!

The little one is now sold but the other are now listed in my Etsy shop!!

I hope you have a wonderful Friday dear friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

Back to playing again...

After being so rudely interrupted by a little thing called diverticulitis!

And it wasn't such a "little" thing...OMYgoodness ~

it's quite painful but thank goodness it was diagnosed quickly

and the meds have worked wonders in just a few days.

Thank you all so much for your well wishes!!

I wanted to share my most recent project with you ~

Last Christmas I made several adorned bottle brush trees.

Well, I still have a good many left that had already been bleached
just waiting to be painted and decorated ~

I don't know why I love painting them, but I do.

On these three trees, I used a Martha Stewart white perle craft paint...

it has a subtle shimmer to it.

I like to get down the dark roots and really lay the paint on.

Next, I used a little flecking tool that I have (but you could use a toothbrush)

to fluff the bristles back up as sometimes they would get matted with the paint.

Wow, you'd think I'm working for Martha BUT I love these two glitters

and while the paint was still wet, I held the tree over a plate and
sprinkled on both glitters pretty heavily.

Don't worry, you can save the overflow in a separate container!

Here's my little tree, you really can't see all the glitter on it but it's beautiful!

Next, I added a few pretty pearls (from old pearl necklaces found at the thrift!)
using my favorite "go-to" glue, Fabri-tac...
no, I'm not working for them either but just love the stuff!

Then, I ran across these wonderful, tarnished silver
sugar and creamers from my stash

and thought they would be sweet containers for my little forest!

I'm still going to adorn them a wee bit more...

maybe an old earring for a tree topper, a tiny banner and of course

I may try to work in a bundle of seam binding on the handles, we'll see!

All three soon to be placed in my Etsy shop ~

WOW, time is whizzing by oh-so-fast!!!!

I have so many things I want to make and do before Christmas...

Who has time to be sick???

Good health truly is such a treasure ~


I'm linking up with Becky of Timewashed Blissful Whites Wednesday!

Wishing you a beautiful Thursday precious friends ~

hugs and love,

Dawn

Our sweet little tree ~

Aren't you just about sick of me talking about this ol' Christmas tree?

Oh well, it's what I'm doing and you know good and well

that my blog is all about what I'm up to!

I had to take a few photos today to show you how the decorating is progressing.

The funny thing????

You don't even NOTICE the snow I painted and the glitter...

WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS I THINKING??!!

Oh well....

I'm not quite finished but wanted to share

how the tree is looking with you.

I found six of these gorgeous votives at Ross last week.

They have a beautiful pearl finish and a silver emblem on the front ~

and for only a buck a piece, they were mine!

And I just have to share this sweetness with you!!!

Brent and Emily took the babies to Bass Pro Shops to see Santa and

this is the adorable photo Brent took with his phone...

I LOVE IT!!!

Clara was SO proud to see Santa that she RAN to him!

Can you believe that?

No crying and not scared one little bit!

Just look at her precious hand resting on Santa's hand....

I have a few wonderful friends that have new blogs!

If you would be so kind to pay them a visit and give them a little blog love

I would be so very grateful!!!

A precious childhood friend (I think we were 13 when we met)

Sharon and her new blog:

The Second Half of Life

and

Sue of Miss Phoebe's Perch ~

Please welcome them both into this wonderful blogging world!!!!

Wishing you a wonderful December weekend precious friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

The ugly Christmas tree dilemma ~

Well, for starters...this ol' tree is a cheap-o.

Yes, it is ~ straight from Wally World.

We wanted one fast and cheap to place on top

of the skirted table in the living room

and for 25 bucks, it was perfect!

We purchased it a few years ago and the bonus??

It was PRE-LIT!!!

How cool is that?

Truthfully?

NOT COOL.

The second year we used the thing the middle of the tree was dark.

So we bought a new string of lights to fudge and strung them

over the un-lit ones and it worked out fine really.

This year the only thing that lit up was the tip top.

So what's a cheapskate to do???

We ripped all the lights off. Even the top!

I'll buy a few 100 light strands and place them on myself.

Still there is the ugly factor.

I attempted to "dust" the tree with snow last year by

taking it out in the back yard and misting white spray paint from the top.

Well, the wind was blowing terribly for one and

the paint color was so white that it was a bluish white!

Anyway, I am trying to squeeze one more year out of this thing.

I've gotten antique white craft paint and I'm painting it on the tops of each limb.

Then I'm using a pretty clear glitter

and sprinkling it on the wet paint to add a little magic.

So, what do you think?

I just wanted to give the impression of a dusting of snow....

Now to finish the other 3/4 of the tree!!!

Hopefully it will be beautiful when I finish...

if not,

let's pretend this post never existed ;)

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday dear friends,

hugs and love,

Dawn

I've been busy!

Oh my goodness...the photo I showed you earlier in the week
of our Christmas tree was really quite pitiful!

I've been working on it all day today

and added tons of more ornaments ~ plus a a garland of tulle.

Tiny touches of color but mostly gold and vanilla.
Oh and by the way,
it's a 6-foot tree sitting on a round end table!
I will place the smaller gifts under the tree on the table and
the rest of the larger gifts will be under the table.....

And yes, the wall is still blank behind the tree.

I'm just going to have to take the plunge and start hanging things!

Recognize a few things?

I hope you're having a wonderful December weekend precious friends!

hugs and love,

Dawn